Machine for manipulating fine-cut tobacco



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

Petented Sept. 9, 1890.

llll B. W. COFFEE. MACHINE FOR MANIPULATING FINE GUT TOBACCO.

I k w n 1 Hdit essee (No Model.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

R. W. COPPER MACHINE FOR MANIPULATING FINE GUT TOBACCO.

No. 436,032. Patented Sept. 9, 1890.

1n: uuams PETERS co., wow-mum, msumsmu, n. c

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT W. COFFEE, OF BEDFORD CITY, VIRGINIA.

MACHINE FOR MANIPULATING FINE-CUT TOBACCO.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 436,032, dated September 9, 1890.

Application filed March 18, 1890. Serial No. 344,389. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, ROBERT WV. COFFEE, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Bedford City, in the county of Bedford and State of Virginia, have invented a new and useful Machine forManipulating Fine-Out Tobacco and like Material, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to machines for manipulating fine-cut tobacco and the like and for the purpose of extracting excessive moist ure from the same by the combined action of currents of hot and cold air; and it consists in the details of construction of said machine, which will be hereinafter fully described, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

Heretofore in the process of extracting excessive moisture from fine-cut tobacco and analogous material it was usual to manipulate the material twice, either in two different machines or twice in succession by the same ma chine, the purpose of the first manipulation being to subject the material to the action of hot air, whereby the excessive moisture shall be vaporized and drawn ofi, and the purpose of the second manipulation being to subject the material to the action of comparatively cold air for the purpose of reducing the temperature and preventing the material from clogging and matting. This has been objectionable for the obvious reason that it involves the duplicate handling of the material.

By my present invention I aim to construct a machine in which by a single manipulation the material shall be subjected to the successive actions of currents of hot and cold air, thereby dispensing with one manipulation, and consequently edectingareduction in the cost of the finished products.

In the drawings hereto annexed, Figure l is a perspective view of a machine embodying my improvements, parts of the casing of the same having been broken away for the purpose of exposing the interior construction. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view of the same. Fig. 3 is a side elevation with parts of the casing broken away. Fig. i is a vertical transverse sectional view taken on the line a: a; in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is an end elevation. Fig. 6 is a perspective detail view of a portion of the revolving cylinder.

Like numerals of reference indicate like parts in all the figures of the drawings.

1 designates a suitable base, havinga se ries of brackets or uprights 2 2, affording bearings for the rollers 3 3, that serve to support a revoluble hollow cylinder or drum 4, which is provided with annular .bands or tires 5, having flanges 6, that engage annular grooves 7 in the rollers 3, so as to keep the said cylinder in its proper position. The said cylinder is slightly inclined in a downward direction from its feed to its discharge end, as will be clearly seen in Figs. 2 and 301": the drawings, it being supported in this position by means of the supporting-rollers 3, the bearings of which are slightly raised at one end. The flanges 6, engaging the grooves 7 in said rollers, serve to prevent the cylinder from sliding longitudinally thereon. The feed end 8 of the cylinder 4 is closed, with the exception of a central opening 9, through which extends a feed-tube 10, which is supported upon a bracket 11, suitably mounted upon the base. inder is also provided with a spur-wheel 12, or a circumferential series of teeth meshing with a pinion 13, mounted upon a short shaft let, which is journaled in suitable bearings, and which is provided with fixed and loose pulleys designated, respectively, by 1-5 and 16, the form of which is adapted to receive motion by an ordinary power-belt from driving machinery of any kind.

The revolving cylinder 4 is inclosed by a casing 17, one end of which practically forms a bearing for the feed end of the cylinder and the other end of which is provided with a cap 18 to close the discharge end of the cylinder. Said cap is provided with a discharge-opening, which is covered by a hood 19, and through which the contents of the cylinder may eventually escape. The cylinder 4, which is constructed of sheet metal, is provided with a series of longitudinal slots or openings 20, extending through its entire length and dividing it into a series of segments 21, which are connected by means of what maybe termed the buckets 22, which are secured interiorly to the said cylinder by means of flanges 23, which are secured in any The said feed-opening of the cylsuitable manner to the segments or sections thereof. Each of the said buckets is composed of a strip of sheetmetal of suitable dimensions, which is bent so as to form a fiat side 24: and a curved side 25, and the edges of which are provided with the flanges 23, above referred to. The flat sides 24 of the said buckets, which are the front sides when the direction of rotation of the cylinder is considered, are provided with numerous minute perforations 26, through which communication is established between the interior of the cylinder and the casing through the open outer sides of the buckets.

The casing is provided near its center with partition-rims 27, which extend to the periphery of the revolving cylinder. The central portion of the latter, located between the said partition rims or'plates is provided with a circumferential slot 28, which is formed by removing portions of the segmental plates or sections 21. The two ends of the casing, which are designated, respectively, by 29 and 30, are thus separated from each other, except in so far as communication between them may be had through the hollow cylinder. The central portion of the casing is provided with an upward extension 31, in the upper end of which is journaled a pulley 32. A belt or band 33, made of flexible sheet metal, passes over the said pulley and around the slotted central portion of the cylinder, said belt serving to cover the said slot in that portion of the cylinder which is temporarily the lower portion. Inlet-pipes 34: and 35 are attached to the casing and communicate, respectively, with the compartments 29 and 30 of the latter, and an outlet-pipe 36 is attached to one side of the upward extension 31 of the casing.

In operation the material which is to be treated is-fed into the cylinder through the pipe 10 at one end of the same. Through the pipe 3& a blast of hot air is directed into the section 29 of the casing, and a blast of cold air is similarly directed through the pipe 35 into the section 30 of the casing, the respective blasts serving to diffuse and distribute the hot and cold air, respectively, through the entire space of each of the sections of the casing, entirely surrounding the ends or sections of the cylinder contained therein. The casing of an exhaust-fan is suitably connected with the outlet-pipe 36. A rotary motion in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 1 of the drawings is now communicated to the revolving cylinder, the contents of which will thus be kept continually agitated by means of the buckets 22, the fiat perforated sides of which serve to lift and elevate the said contents of the cylinder and to discharge it back into the same when a certain elevation has been reached. The hot air which is being forced into the section 29 of the casing will pass through the open outer sides of the buckets and through the perforatedsides of said buckets into the cylinder, it being thus forced through the contents of the cylinder, vaporizing the excessive moisture of said contents. In like manner the cold air which is being forced into the section 30 of the casing is caused to pass through the perforated buckets .and into the cylinder, thereby cooling the contents of the latter. Both the hot and the cold air, as well as the vaporized moisture, are drawn by the suction created through the escape-pipe 36 to the center of the cylinder, and thence through the slots 28 into the upward extension 31 of the casing, and out through the discharge-pipe 36. The endless belt 33, as will be seen, serves to cover the slot 28 in that part of the cylinder which is temporarily the lower part. The contents of the cylinder are thus prevented from escaping through the said slot. At the same time said belt ofiers no obstruction to the passage of the air through the upper portion of said slot and to the escape-pipe 36. Owing to the inclined or tilted position of the cylinder, the material which is being operated upon will travel slowly and gradually from the feed end to the discharge end of the machine, where it escapes through the opening covered by the hood 19. During its passage through the machine the material is subjected, in the manner described, first to the action of the hot air and next to the action of the cold air. It is thus deprived of its excessive moisture, and gradually cooled in such a manner as to prevent it from clogging or matting either during its passage through the machine or after being discharged from the latter.

The construction of the machine is simple and inexpensive, and it may be operated more efficiently and with better results than machines for similar purposes that have heretofore been in use.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. The herein-described revoluble cylinder, composed of a series of longitudinaland separate plates connected by means of the inwardly-proj ecting and perforated buckets secured interiorly to said plates, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, with a casing having separate compartments for the admission of hot and cold air, of the revolving cylinder ar ranged within said casing and provided with the interiorly-arranged buckets having per forated sides and open bases, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination, with a casing having separate compartments for the admission of hot and cold air and provided with a cen trally-located upward extension having an exit-pipe, of the revolving cylinder arranged longitudinally within the said casing and hav ing the interiorly-located buckets with perforated sides and open bases, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination of the casing having separate compartments for the admission of hot and cold air and having a central upward extension provided with an escape-pipe, the

revolving cylinder arranged within said casing and composed of segmental plates connected by interiorly-located buckets having flat perforated sides and open bases, said cylinder being provided with a central circumferential slot, a guide-pulleyjournaled in the upward extension of the casing, and an endless belt passing over said pulley and under the circumferential slotted portion of the cylinder, substantially as set forth.

5. In a machine for manipulating tobacco and like material, the combination, with a casing having separate end compartments with inlets respectively for hot and cold water and a central or intermediate compartment having an outlet, of a cylinder mounted revolubly in the said casing and having interiorlylocated longitudinal buckets and provided with openings whereby the interior of said cylinder shall be caused to communicate with each of the compartments of the casing, substantially as set forth.

6. The combination of a casing having separate compartments for the admission of hot and cold airand an intermediate compartment provided with an outlet, a slightly inclined or tilted cylinder mounted revolubly in said casing and having interiorly-arranged buckets and provided with openings communicating with each of the compartments of the casing, a feed-pipe extending through a central opening in the closed feed end of the cylinder, and a discharge-opening in the opposite end of the casing, substantially as set forth.

7. The combination, with the revoluble cylinder composed of segmental plates connected by interiorly-ar ranged buckets having fiat perforated sides and open bases, said cylinder being provided with a central circumferential slot, of a casing having separate compartments for the admission of hot and cold air and provided with a central or intermediate compartment having an outlet, a guidepulley journaled in said central or intermediate compartment, and an endless belt passin g over said guide-pulley and under the central circumfelentially-slotted portion of the cylinder, substantially as set forth.

8. The combination of a casing, partitions therein, a revoluble cylinder having openings therein and provided with inwardly-extending perforated buckets and with a circumferential slot registering with the middle compartment in the casing, inlet-pipes at the end compartments of the casing, an upward eX tension of the middle compartment having an exit-pipe, a guide-pulley, and an endless band passing over the latter and under the cir cumferentially-slotted portion of the cylinder, substantially as set forth.

9. An organized machine for treating finecut tobacco and like material, comprising a casing provided with means for the admission simultaneously of hot and cold air in 0pposite ends thereof, a revoluble cylinderhaving openings therein, and means for exhausting from a central portion of the casing the said hot and cold air, together with the vaporized moisture of the material that is being operated upon, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

ROBERT W. COFFEE. Witnesses:

J. H. SIGGERS, R. W. DAYTON. 

